From staff reports:

One of the finest modern Christmas traditions is the unraveling of complicated balls of Christmas lights, only to get it all unwound and find out that they no longer work. For those who find themselves with that string of lights that just won’t light up, there are several ways to recycle old Christmas lights throughout the Puget Sound.

The lights are recycled when those collecting them strip the copper wiring out of the lights so it can be reused.

Locations around the area that will accept old Christmas lights include all of the McLendon’s hardware locations (www.mclendons.com/store-map) and Whole Foods Markets (wholefoodsmarket.com/stores).

If a jaunt to Seattle or elsewhere is out of the question, Federal Way residents can take holiday lights to three locations in Auburn. Lights can be taken to the city’s Customer Service Center, located at 1 E. Main St.; the Auburn Senior Center, located at 808 9th St. E; and the Parks and Recreation Building, located at 910 9th St. SE.

Outside of those Auburn locations, Federal Way residents can also head to Point Defiance Park and Zoo to recycle old holiday lights. Finally, there’s a mail-in program available through the website HolidayLEDs.com. Most of these programs are collecting lights through Jan. 15 at least, with some collecting past that date.